Years testing finds no food safety issue in UK dog dry eye probe

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A mystery cluster of sudden bilateral dry eye in dogs is still unresolved after UK pet food company Years said its independent testing found no contamination, toxins, or other safety issues in its recalled fresh meals. The update follows the company’s August 2026 voluntary recall of all Years Fresh Meals, excluding its Chef’s Collection, after reports that some dogs developed acute keratoconjunctivitis sicca, in some cases severe enough to threaten vision. (years.com)

The recall initially focused attention on buckwheat after reporting around a recipe change and a possible dietary link. But the investigation has widened considerably since then. BrAVO said on September 23, 2026, that it is conducting an independent UK-wide investigation into an apparent rise in acute bilateral KCS, and stressed that no causal relationship has yet been established between the condition and any particular food, ingredient, or manufacturer. The group also noted that possible associations have been raised in dogs fed Years and other pet foods. (theguardian.com)

Years says its review covered ingredients, retained production meals, and customer-returned meals from March 1 to August 17. According to the company, the work produced 21,757 individual test results across 1,129 distinct substances. Buckwheat was tested across 940 substances, including tropane alkaloids, mycotoxins, pesticides, heavy metals, and fagopyrin, with no issues identified, and 273 retained or returned buckwheat-containing meals also tested negative for contamination or toxins. Years said it plans to remove buckwheat from recipes as a precaution when deliveries resume in October, even though the ingredient was not implicated by testing. (years.com)

The epidemiology has also become harder to fit to a single-brand explanation. PetfoodIndustry, citing BrAVO and veterinary ophthalmologists in Europe, reported 155 cases in Years-fed dogs and 96 in dogs with no history of eating Years, including cases in Finland and Hungary, where the company does not sell food. Improve International similarly reported that more than 200 cases have now been logged through BrAVO’s survey and that affected dogs were eating a range of diets, though 79% were fed Years. That doesn’t rule out a dietary role, but it does suggest veterinarians should keep a broad differential and avoid assuming every acute bilateral KCS case is directly tied to one manufacturer. (petfoodindustry.com)

Clinical observers say the pattern itself is what matters most. Improve International quoted Victoria Jordan, an RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Veterinary Ophthalmology and ECVO resident, saying her team had noticed an unusual increase in severe KCS cases before the recall was announced. The same guidance says the combination of sudden onset, bilateral disease, and severe tear deficiency should prompt suspicion and reporting, whether or not the dog ate Years. It also highlights the value of recording Schirmer tear test results for each eye and considering standard ophthalmic management promptly. (improveinternational.com)

Why it matters: For general practitioners and ophthalmology teams, this is now less a recall story than a live case-finding and pattern-recognition problem. BrAVO is explicitly asking vets to report acute bilateral KCS cases irrespective of feeding history, and Years’ own veterinary information page tells clinicians to encourage prompt assessment for dogs with new ocular signs. That means practices may need to separate client anxiety about a recalled food from the more important clinical question: is this the sudden, severe bilateral tear deficiency pattern under investigation? Early identification, documentation, treatment, and reporting could be more useful right now than trying to assign causality at the exam-room level. (bravo.org.uk)

There’s also a communication challenge. Pet parents who saw the August recall may still assume the case is settled, either because the food caused the problem or because negative testing clears the issue entirely. Neither appears true. BrAVO’s statement is careful: the association remains unproven, the investigation is independent, and conclusions should wait until the clinical data are properly assessed. Years, for its part, says it will continue sharing findings with BrAVO and other independent bodies and is supporting further research, including an independent study led by veterinary ophthalmologist David Williams at Cambridge, according to Improve International. (bravo.org.uk)

What to watch: The next key developments are likely to be formal analysis of BrAVO’s case reports, publication of any independent research on possible shared exposures or mechanisms, and whether surveillance identifies a reproducible clinical or toxicologic signal across diets, geographies, or time periods. (bravo.org.uk)